After 22 years, Teenage girls to lock horns in US Open Final

Newyork: After the Olympics, where teenage girls brought laurel to their nations by winning flurry of medals in sports like skateboarding, Gymnasium now in US Open two teenage girls will be at the loggerheads at the penultimate clash in a bid to script history. The high octane battle will be played at Arthur Ace Stadium on Saturday.

The duo Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez ensured the last grand slam to get a new champion after both surged into the finals of the US open post emerging victorious over their rivals in the semifinals.

If not a doppelganger, the 18-year-old Emma Raducanu and 19-year old Leylah Fernandez have been analogous in many ways.

As they are in their teens, the girls are not intimidated while facing a higher ranked, experienced and fame player at the court. The duo is yet to be seeded in international tennis rankings. Britan's Raducanu stands at 150 while Canadian Fernandez's ranking is 73. It is going to be the first grand slam final for the teens.

Agility and acrobatic skills are a plus-plus for both players. The tricky shots are never a concern for these girls and they somehow manage to find a way to land the ball on the other side. Last But not least, Crowd has rallied behind the finalist in this tournament in almost every match.

Raducanu had made 17th seeded Greek tennis player Maaria Sakari bite dust with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-4. While Leylah Fernandez registered an upset after defeating 2nd seeded Aryana Sabalenka by 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4.

It is the first time in the US Open history when teenage girls would be facing off each other. In the year 1999, the mighty 17-year old Serena Williams took on 18-year-old Martina Hingis and the former won comprehensively.

Raducanu's journey has been more spellbinding as she had never ever thought in her dreams to end as a finalist. she never expected to surge into the main draw and booked her ticket in advance to avert an unnecessary stay in Newyork. "This is unbelievable, I just concentrated on one match at a point, and after 3 weeks I am in the finals," says Raducana.

While Fernandez registered upsets in a spree and defeated defending champ of 2018 & 2020 Noami Osaka and 2016 US open winner Angelic Kerber followed by 5th seeded Iliana Swetilona and Ab Sabalinka. (WD)